Nearly 9 in 10 US households that rely solely on antennas to watch television were fully ready for the June 12 transition to digital television on June 3, according to a survey released today by the American National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).
Findings from this latest poll indicate that 88% of broadcast-only households are completely digital-ready, a jump from 82% reported in NAB’s April survey.
However, the figure also means that 1.75 million homes are not yet ready for digital television. Those households will find their screens to be without a broadcast signal after the analogue switch-off.
By law, all full-power TV stations must broadcast exclusively in digital by June 12, 2009. NAB is leading a public awareness campaign valued at more than $1.2 billion to educate Americans about what the Americans call “the DTV transition”.
118 stations in 85 markets that have volunteered to provide a so-called ‘nightlight service’ for up to 30 days after the planned shutoff of regular analogue broadcast service, the FCC announced late Thursday.
The stations, which include such majors as WCBS and WNBC in New York; KNBC, KTLA and KWHY in Los Angeles; and WFLD in Chicago, will continue broadcasting an analogue signal containing only emergency and DTV transition information to help viewers.
